


Beneath The Mask

by theholylight



Category: Persona 5, Persona Series
Genre: Birthday, Birthday Presents, Drabble, Gen, Implied spoilers, Kinda, Spoilers, and lightly implied end game stuff, i needed to write something for his birthday, not much since it is a drabble and all, spoilers regarding when protag meets goro for the first time
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-06-01
Updated: 2017-06-01
Packaged: 2018-11-07 20:00:09
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 547
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11066085
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/theholylight/pseuds/theholylight
Summary: Goro hid a lot of things. For his own safety, first and foremost. So it wasn't that surprising that he didn't expect such an event to happen at the cafe that caused him so much pain yet happiness at the same time...





	Beneath The Mask

"Welcome."

Sojiro smirked his usual grin as one of his regulars stepped inside, tossing the water out of his long, soggy hair with a shake, shivering as he placed his umbrella by the door before taking a seat in front of the small bookshelf he crafted beside the yellow pay phone. The owner walked over to him and nodded simply.

"The usual?"

"Yes, thank you..." 

The smile Goro Akechi gave him felt fake but Sojiro wouldn't comment on that - it wasn't any of his business. Knowing the overworked and underfed teen, this was probably a forced lunch break. Akira, his warden, was still at school and wouldn't be back until later, discussions of some school trip he briefly mentioned in passing were probably happening as they spoke. Gazing at him from under his glasses, Sojiro spoke.

"My ... the person I'm looking after... is taking a field trip in a few days..." he explained as he began to brew Goro's favorite. "... to the TV station?"

"Is that so?" 

Humming, Goro leaned against the counter, a burning look in his otherwise lifeless eyes, it was obvious that the statement piqued his interest in some way.

"Well, I hope I get to meet him then!"

Sojiro didn't comment on how he guessed that it was a 'he', since he mentioned no gender, but figured the young detective knew who he was talking about, given that he did work with that woman who looking after Akira during his probation, in her own ways. Shrugging to himself as he placed a perfectly made cup of coffee in front of the brunet, the older man sighed.

"I hope he won't be causing you any trouble..."

Before Goro could reply - likely to reassure him of the opposite like many attempted to over the past two months - the doors of Leblanc opened again, letting Sae Niijima aside. Tensing a bit and wondering if she was here for _that_ reason, Sojiro watched Sae make her way towards the teen, patting his shoulder gently as she took a seat beside him.

"... you should have told me." she said by way of greeting.

Confusion sipped into the other's eyes as he opened his mouth to ask about what she meant with her out of the blue statement, but Sae cut across him in a firm manner.

"Happy birthday, Akechi-kun. It isn't much but..."

Sae reached into her bag and handed a meal ticket to Goro, who at this point was barely capable of hiding his disbelief at the gesture. Behind them, Sojiro watched in silence, was it...?

"... I hope you will like it - I know how much of a sweet tooth you have, especially after the takoyaki we had last time didn't agree with you..."

"... that was...!..."

"... so please take it, it's your gift." Sae finished sternly. "It's free pancakes at the best place in the city for the next two months, don't ask how I managed to obtain it."

"Well, happy birthday."

Goro, who was still filled with shock and disbelief, barely noticed when Sojiro said those words too, clapping him on the back in a friendly manner. It took all he had to stop the sudden and unexplainable rush of emotion he felt creeping out from beneath his mask...

"T-Thank you. I will use it well."

**Author's Note:**

> Tomorrow is Pancake Prince's birthday!
> 
> I forgot the exact date of the trip to the TV station but eh, I do think it was after the second of June. Thank you for reading ^^
> 
> (And hopefully tomorrow I will be able to write an akeshu/shuake drabble... :D)


End file.
